Tom Wolfe, author of `The Right Stuff`, dies at 88
(Artdaily.org)

Author Tom Wolfe, the acerbic chronicler of American society known for best-selling books `The Right Stuff` and `The Bonfire of the Vanities,` has died at the age of 88. Wolfe`s agent Lynn Nesbit said the writer died Monday in a Manhattan hospital, where he was being treated for an infection. `We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Tom Wolfe,` his publisher Picador said. `He was one of the greats and his words will live on forever.` During a prolific career, Wolfe turned his flamboyant pen and keen eye to pop culture, the hippie movement, the art world, race relations and Wall Street. But he is perhaps best known for his non-fiction bestseller `The Right Stuff` about the US space program and the original Mercury astronauts. The 1979 book was made into a Hollywood hit starring Sam Shepard and Ed Harris and made swashbuckling test pilot Chuck